WEBVTT

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(soft music)

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- Education's really important to me

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because it's really the building
block of everything we do.

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I'm going to school for a
Master's in public policy degree.

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I'm concentrating in national
security and diplomacy.

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I really wanted to go to school for this

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because I think my status as a veteran,

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my experience in the military,

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brings a really unique
perspective to those issues.

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When I was on active duty I
had a couple of deployments

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to the Middle East, to the Horn of Africa.

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Since being in the Guard
I've had the opportunity

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to do NATO training
exercises in the Baltics.

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So I've really had the opportunity
to be all over the place,

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see just a very small sliver
of American foreign policy

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in quite a few different
parts of the world.

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I'm really interested in working

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within America's foreign policy

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and solving the problems that we

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use our military as a tool for.

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So the Guard has really helped
me achieve my education goals

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through a couple different ways.

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First, there's the huge benefit

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of state tuition reimbursement.

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But even more important is the experiences

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that I get to bring from
the Guard to the classroom.

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I kinda bring firsthand
experience through the Guard

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into the classroom.

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That really helps everyone's education

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and helps me share my experiences.

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People can kinda push back on that

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and it helps me learn also.

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The Pat Tillman Foundation
is this amazing group

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of fellow veterans, of people who share

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this common experience of service,

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being veterans but are really chosen

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for their potential to make
an impact in the future.

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Being chosen as a Pat Tillman scholar

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really means a lot to me.

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It's a huge honor personally,

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but more importantly a defining
value of my life is service

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and a huge component of
the Pat Tillman Foundation

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is carrying on past legacy
of service before self.

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He gave up a lot to do what he did

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and now part of being a scholar

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is making an impact in our communities.

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So it's another outlet to give
back to the community that

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in supporting me really enabled me

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to get to this point in my life.

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(soft music)

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My name is Captain Charles Cox

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and I'm in the Minnesota National Guard.